Method and system for automatically publishing content

ABSTRACT

The publishing system and method automates at least some portion of a publishing process. The system publishes content using metadata, rights templates and/or specifications, publishing profiles and business rules.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a method and system forpublishing content and, more particularly, to a method and system forautomatically publishing content over the Internet, other communicationsnetworks or conventional delivery channels.

[0003] 2. Background of the Invention

[0004] Rapid evolution and wide deployment has occurred for computers,and other electronic devices such as cellular phones, pagers, PDAs, ande-book readers, and these devices are interconnected throughcommunication links including the Internet, intranets and othernetworks. These interconnected devices are especially conducive topublication of content electronically. The process of making contentavailable from authors and/or publishers to distributors over theInternet, intranets and other networks is known as “electronicpublishing.” Many systems have been developed through which publishersand distributors can advertise, distribute and sell content. Thiscontent can include items such as documents, e-books, music, video,games and software, that are delivered electronically to consumers overnetworks or on tangible media such as paper documents, books, CDs, VideoCDs, DVDs, floppy disks and magnetic tapes that are delivered throughconventional distribution channels such as through a common carrier. Ingeneral, content includes anything that may be distributedelectronically or may be distributed in a tangible media. A publishingor distribution system may provide a catalog that lists the content thatis available. A user, who is a potential content consumer, may browsethrough the catalog, select desired content, rights to view, print orextract the content and the like, and conditions upon which the rightsmay be contingent such as payment, identification, time period, or thelike. After the user has completed selecting and ordering the content,the publishing or distribution system then instructs the delivery of thecontent to the recipient either electronically from some contentrepository or via a conventional distribution channel such as tangiblemedia sent via a common carrier.

[0005] Very often, publishing of content from a publisher to itsdistributors and then to consumers is time consuming and cumbersome. Atypical scenario is that after preparing content, the publisher manuallyinforms its distributors that the content is ready to be distributed.The distributors manually determine whether they want to distribute thecontent. If a distributor wants to distribute the content, then thedistributor manually contacts the publisher and the content, togetherwith its metadata (identification and descriptive data) and a rightsspecification (i.e. the access or usage rights and accompanyingconditions), is then manually transferred to the distributor's system.The distributor then manually brands the content with its business rulesand makes the content available for consumers to select by, for example,manually listing the content in a catalog. The business rules generallyinclude the rules and procedures used by a distributor to decide whichcontent that the particular distributor wants to distribute. In manysituations, this process of informing, transferring, branding,cataloging and displaying content is accomplished by multiple humaninteractions on a content-by-content basis. Not only does this processconsume valuable human resources and delay the time to market thecontent, but this process also introduces vulnerabilities by allowingpeople to mishandle and misuse the content.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] An embodiment of the invention provides a method and system toautomate the process of publishing items of content from publishers todistributors who then make the content available to consumers. Anembodiment may organize a group of publishers, a group of distributorsand some intermediate facilitators. Facilitators may include contentrepositories and registrars. Each publisher, distributor or facilitatoris provided with a unique identifier.

[0007] One embodiment relies on pre-prepared content metadata andpre-defined usage rights templates, publishing profiles and businessrules to automate the publishing process. Each publisher may have usagerights templates and a set of publishing profiles. A usage rightstemplate may define a set of usage rights that are offered to governdistribution and use of a collection of content. When a usage rightstemplate applies to a specific content, it becomes a usage rightsspecification for that content. A publishing profile may describe asubgroup of distributors through which a certain type of content may bepublished and a subgroup of facilitators that may be used to, forexample, store and register the content. Each distributor may have a setof business rules that describe how to process, filter or augmentmetadata and usage rights specifications supplied by a collection ofpublishers, repositories and registrars.

[0008] A user of the publishing system may initiate the publishingprocess by providing information that identifies an item of content andits metadata. The metadata may include an identifier, title, authors,publishing dates, a description and the like. The user then associates ausage rights template and a publishing profile with the content. Inresponse to the publishing request, the system may follow the selectedpublishing profile to perform a sequence of actions. The system may thenstore the item of content to an identified content repository or media.The content may also be in a protected form such as being encrypted andthe like. Repositories may include, for example, file servers, databasesand the like, and media may include, for example, paper, CD, DVD, floppydisk, tape and the like. The system may then validate and register thecontent at the registrar, together with the associated metadata, usagerights specification and publishing profile. The system may then notifydistributors of the newly available content. Upon notification,distributors may use the publisher identifier and the content identifierto automatically receive the metadata and usage rights specification ofthe content, automatically apply their own business rules to themetadata and usage rights specification, and automatically generate anitem in their catalog which makes the content available for selection byconsumers.

[0009] The invention facilitates publishing content in a networkedenvironment. The publishing system of the invention reduces the numberof human interactions that are required among the publishers,distributors and other facilitators to publish content. One embodimentof the invention uses predefined and specified information to makecontent items appear automatically in a distributor's consumerinterface. Interfaces for the invention may include a catalog, a Webpage, or a file system interface. Such an interface enables a consumerto order, download or access the content.

[0010] In one exemplary embodiment, a publisher initiates the publishingprocess by providing information that identifies an item of content andits metadata and associates a rights specification and a publishingprofile with the item. Metadata may contain several fields including,for example, a content identifier such as an International Standard BookNumber (ISBN); a title; the creator; a publisher; the publication date,a Digital Object Identification (DOI), the Library of Congress ControlNumber (LCCN), a description, an image and the like. The system andmethod of the invention may also provide a user interface for creating,modifying and managing content metadata, rights specifications, andpublishing profiles. A rights specification may include informationregarding the specific rights granted to an identified content if agiven set of conditions is satisfied. Examples of rights specificationsinclude: 1) the right to “view” and “print” are granted by “ABCPublishing, Inc.” on content “ISBN 123456789,” provided that a fee of$22.95 is paid up front; 2) the right to “view,” “print” and “extract”are granted by “ABCD Publishing, Inc.” on content “ISBN=123456789,”provided that user is a “123 Company” employee and uses a device branded“123 Company”; and 3) the right to “view” is granted by “ABCDPublishing, Inc.” on content “ISBN =123456789” for two days. However, arights specification can include any number of various rights, and anyof their associated conditions.

[0011] In response to a publishing request, the system may follow theselected publishing profile to perform a sequence of actions. Suchactions may include distributing the item of content to an identifiedcontent repository such as a file server or database or to copy thecontent to media such as paper, tape, CD, DVD, or floppy disk, that areused to physically transport the content. The content may also beprotected by encryption and the like. The system may then validate orregister the content at a registrar's system together with its metadata,usage rights specification and publishing profile. The system may thennotify the distributor of the newly available content, and uponnotification, the distributors may use their business rules to determinewhether they are interested in distributing the content and, if they areinterested, the system may then use the publishing identifier andcontent identifier to obtain the metadata and rights specification ofthe content. A distributor may then apply their own distributor rules tothe content and generate an item in their catalog which makes thecontent available to consumers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Exemplary embodiments of this invention will be described indetail, with reference to the following figures, wherein:

[0013]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating three phases in the lifecycle of content processed by an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one exemplary embodiment ofa publishing system in accordance with the invention;

[0015]FIG. 3 shows a flow chart outlining an exemplary control routinefor publishing content in accordance with the invention;

[0016]FIG. 4 shows an exemplary graphical user interface (GUI) for auser of an embodiment of the invention;

[0017]FIG. 5 shows a flow chart outlining an exemplary control routinefor a “push” publishing process in accordance with the invention;

[0018]FIG. 6 shows a flow chart outlining an exemplary control routinefor a “pull” publishing process in accordance with the invention;

[0019]FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating one exemplary embodiment ofa distributor system in accordance with the invention;

[0020]FIG. 8 is a flow chart outlining an exemplary control routine forupdating a distributor catalog in accordance with the invention;

[0021]FIG. 9 shows an exemplary GUI for a distributor system interfacingwith an embodiment of the invention to update a catalog;

[0022]FIG. 10 shows another exemplary GUI for a distributor systeminterfacing with an embodiment of the invention to update a catalog;

[0023]FIG. 11 shows an exemplary GUI for a distributor cataloginterfacing with an embodiment of the invention; and

[0024]FIG. 12 shows yet another exemplary GUI for a distributor systeminterfacing with an embodiment of the invention for editing a catalog.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0025]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram that illustrates actions that may beperformed during three phases of the life cycle of content using oneexemplary embodiment of the invention. All of these actions may beperformed on a single system, multiple systems, a distributed processingnetwork or any other system capable of performing these actions. Thesystem may be inter- or intraorganizational. For example, a corporationor firm may use the invention to publish documents within the firmregardless of whether the firm operates on a LAN, WAN or the like.Pre-publishing actions 10 include creating the content 12, metadata 14,rights templates 16, and publishing profiles 18. Each of these actions12-18 may be performed by a system in accordance with one exemplaryembodiment of the invention. The system creates metadata 14 andassociates the metadata 14 with the content 12. The system also cancreate rights templates 16. The creation of the rights templates 16 mayeach include creation of a set of usage rights and conditions. Thecreation of the rights templates 16 by this exemplary embodiment doesnot associate any rights with content. The system may also apply therights templates 16 to the content 12 and the metadata 14 to generaterights specifications. The systems may also create publishing profiles18 that each may include information related to preexisting agreementsbetween publishers, distributors, registrars and the like.

[0026] Publishing actions 20 may include packaging the content 22,preparing the content for distribution 24, registering the content 26and marketing the content 28 using a system in accordance with thisexemplary embodiment of the invention. The system may package thecontent 22 along with other data such as metadata, additional contentand the like. Packaging of the content 22 may also include translatingthe content to a deliverable format, signing and/or encrypting thecontent, in association with metadata, rights specification, and otherdistribution and consumption enabling information, such as cryptographickeys and the like. The system may also prepare the content fordistribution 24 using, for example, the metadata, the rights templatesand the publishing profiles. Preparing of the content for distribution24 may also include shipping to a content repository, printing to paper,burning onto a CD, copying to a floppy disk and tapes and the like. Thesystem may also register the content 26 by, for example, trackingvarious transactions by storing a transaction record along with anassociated rights specification. Registration 26 may also includeforwarding metadata to a registrar. Registration of the content may alsoinclude creating and managing records of published content, togetherwith content and identification, metadata, rights specification andother marketing information. Additionally, the system may perform amarketing function 28 by, for example, sending a notice to distributorsthat includes metadata, a rights specification and the like. Marketingof the content may also include cataloging, distributing and presentingthe content to potential consumers, and the like.

[0027] Examples of rights templates include a template that provides: 1)the right to view and print provided that a set fee has been paid; 2)rights to view, print and extract provided the user is an employee,resides in a particular geographic area and uses a device branded by aparticular company; or 3) rights to view provided that a period of timehas not been exceeded and a fee has been paid. Rights templates are notlimited to any specific set of rights and conditions.

[0028] The system and method of the invention may also provide a userinterface for creating, modifying and managing rights templates. Such aninterface may: list and or enable selection of available rights; listand/or specify conditions, and associate them with selected rights; aidthe user in creating a rights template, possibly through drag- and -dropof rights and conditions into a template icon; and aid the user inverifying the syntactic and symantic correctness of templates.

[0029] A publishing profile may include a collection of distributors andfacilitators through which certain types of content are distributed,archived, and registered. Publishing profiles may contain, for example,the following fields: publisher, content repositories, registrars,distributors, confirmation, and the like. The confirmation field mayprovide a determination on whether an on-line, an off-line confirmationor both should be obtained.

[0030] Post-publishing actions 30 may include an ordering function 32such as a consumer placing an order for content having specific usagerights. The system may also enable a consumer to perform a consumptionfunction 34 such as reading an e-book, listening to music, viewingartwork and the like. The system may also perform a disposition function36 by, for example, archiving the content, destroying the content,copying the content and the like.

[0031]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one exemplary embodiment ofa publishing system 100 in accordance with the invention. The publishingsystem 100 may include a client system 102 and a server system 104, andmay selectively communicate with a plurality of distributor systems 106.The client system 102 may be accessed by a user who is a publisher,distributor, author or the like.

[0032] The client system may include a metadata database 108, a rightstemplate database 110, a publishing profile database 112, a contentcollection 114, and an interface 116. A user may create, modify, editand store metadata, rights templates and publishing profiles using theinterface 116. The client system 102 is in communication with the server104.

[0033] The server system 104 includes an interface 118, a server engine120, a user database 122, a content repository 124, a rightsspecification database 126 and a transaction database 128. The userdatabase 122 may include a user profile including data regarding eachregistered user of the server system 104 such as identificationinformation, passwords and preferences for each registered user. Therights specification database 126 may include information regarding therights specification that is associated with each content andcorresponding metadata. The content repository 124 may act as a “sink”or storage location for the content after being packaged. Thetransaction database 128 may include data regarding each transaction orinteraction with the publication system server. The transaction database128 may also include information regarding the source and target of eachdistribution of content, the associated rights and conditions, billingdata and any other information.

[0034] All collections, databases and repositories may be integral partsof a client, a server, or independent systems and each of them may beplural and have multiple occurrences. The content collection, metadatadatabase, rights templates and publishing profiles may also be managedby the server system 104 or managed by one or several other servers.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 2, any of the client system 102, server system104 and distributor systems 106 may be implemented using a programmedgeneral purpose computer. However, the systems may also be implementedusing special purpose computers, programmed microprocessors or microcontrollers and any necessary peripheral integrated circuit elements, anASIC or other integrated circuit, hardwired electronic logic circuits,discrete element circuits, programmable logic devices such as a PLD,PLA, FPGA or PAL, and the like. In general, any device capable ofimplementing the flow charts shown in FIGS. 3, 5-6 and 8 may be used toimplement the client system 102, server system 104 and distributorsystems 106. Additionally, the databases may be implemented using staticor dynamic RAM. However, the databases may also be implemented usingfloppy disks and disk drives, writable optical disks and disk drives,hard drives, flash memory and the like. Additionally, it should beappreciated that the databases can either be distinct portions of asingle database or physically distinct databases or any collection ofinformation.

[0036] Further, it should be appreciated that communication between theclient system 102, server system 104 and distributor systems 106 may beaccomplished by any communications channel such as wired or wirelesslinks to networks. These networks may be local area networks, wide areanetworks, intranets, the Internet, or any other network.

[0037] The method and system of the invention may also include a userregistration interface (not shown) that is adapted to enable a user toregister with the publishing system. Such a user interface may assist increating, modifying and managing user information. The user informationmay include: name, address, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, selectedpublisher, financial information and the like. Each field of informationmay be mandatory and/or optional. The registration interface may alsogenerate additional information for each user. Such additionalinformation may include a unique user ID, a password that is eithersystem assigned or user selected, crytographic keys, digitalcertificates and the like.

[0038]FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a control routine that enables a userof a publishing system to publish content in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the invention. The control routine starts atstep S200 and continues to step S202. In step S202, the control routineenables the user to log in, loads a corresponding user profile andcontinues to step S204. In step S204, the control routine receives aselection of content and continues to step S206. The content may beselected in any conventional manner such as by dragging and dropping acontent identifier, choosing the content from a list, browsing a filesystem or any other manner. In step S206, the control routine suppliesthe metadata for the selected content and continues to step S208. Themetadata may be derived from the content, supplied from an existingdatabase or created at least in part by the user. In step S208, thecontrol routine enables the user to select a rights template orautomatically selects a rights template based upon the user's profileand continues to step S210. In step S210, the control routine enablesthe user to choose a publishing profile or the system may automaticallyselect a publishing profile based upon the user's profile. The controlroutine then continues to step S212 where the control routine enablesthe user to place a request for the desired content to initiate thepublication process and continues to step S214. In step S214, thecontrol routine confirms the desired content, the metadata, the rightsand the publishing profile with the user. If, in step S214, the controlroutine receives a rejecting confirmation (“NO”) from the user, then thecontrol routine returns to step S204. If, however, in step S214, thecontrol routine receives an accepting confirmation (“YES”) of therequest from the user, then the control routine continues to step S216.In step S216, the control routine determines whether publishing ofadditional content is desired by the user. If, in step S216, the controlroutine determines that publishing of additional content is desired bythe user, then the control routine returns to step S204. If, however, instep S216, the control routine determines that publishing of additionalcontent is not desired by the user, then the control routine continuesto step S220. In step S220, the control routine returns control of thesystem to the control routine which called the control routine of FIG.3.

[0039] Steps S204, S206, S208 and S210 may be accomplished in any order.In an alternative embodiment, the flow chart of FIG. 3 may besignificantly simplified by combining steps S204 through step S210 intoone or more steps. Additionally, an alternative embodiment of thecontrol routine may omit steps S206 through S216 by determining themetadata, rights template, and/or publishing profile based upon theuser's profile. The control routine may also place the request withoutproviding for confirmation and selection of additional content.Alternatively, the control routine may omit S206 through S212 and S216.In this embodiment, the control routine will provide a single contentselection along with confirmation.

[0040] A exemplary embodiment of this invention may also provide aninterface as shown in FIG. 4 for a user to publish content using asingle or multiple action corresponding to the control routine of FIG.3. As shown in FIG. 4, such an exemplary interface 400 may be agraphical user interface (hereafter “GUI”) screen that includes fieldsto enter or select a single document or collection of documents to bepublished 401, 402; fields to select pre-edited metadata 406 or tocompose metadata 404; fields to select a pre-specified rights template408 or to compose a rights template (not shown); fields to select apre-defined publishing profile or to compose a publishing profile (notshown); a button to start and complete the publishing process 410; and abutton to reset all of the fields to their default values 412.Additionally, the same user interface may enable modifying and managingexisting publishing requests. Also, a similar interface (not shown) maybe provided for a batch processing mode to publish multiple items ofcontent.

[0041] An optional account manager (not shown) may also be providedwithin a publishing process GUI. Such an account manager may be used toset and update user registration information, metadata, a default rightstemplate and a default publishing profile. The account manager may alsobe used to set up mechanisms for determining metadata, a rights templateand a publishing profile to be used for publishing selected content.

[0042]FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of one exemplary embodiment of a controlroutine to process a publishing request in a “push” mode in accordancewith the invention. The control routine processes a publishing requestand “pushes” the content to distributors. The control routine starts atstep S300 and continues to step S302. In step S302, the control routinegathers information such as user information, content, metadata, rightstemplates, publishing profiles and the like. The control routine may usedefaults, inference rules, logic analysis on content and/or any otherway to gather and/or create information. The control routine thencontinues to step S304, where the control routine disposes the content.For example, the control routine may digitally sign and/or encrypt thecontent for the purpose of protection, and transfer the content to acontent repository or media. The control routine then continues to stepS306, where the control routine generates and/or stores a rightsspecification in the rights specification database 126 shown in FIG. 2and continues to step S308. In step S308, the control routine registersthe transaction in, for example, the transaction database 128 shown inFIG. 2 and continues to step S310. In step S310, the control routinenotifies the distributors of the publication and continues to step S312.The notification may include, for example, a simple notice that includesa description of the content, metadata, content identifiers, publisherinformation, content repositories and a rights specification identifier.The distributors receive the notification and determine whether they areinterested in the content based upon their business rules (discussedlater). In step S312, the control routine collects the response from thedistributors and continues to step S314. In step S314, the controlroutine determines whether a distributor is interested based upon thecollected response. If, in step S314, the control routine determinesthat the distributor is interested, then the control routine continuesto step S3 16. In step S3 16, the control routine delivers the metadataand corresponding rights specification to the distributor and continuesto step S318. If, however, in step S314, the control routine determinesthat the distributor is not interested, based upon the collectedresponse, then the control routine jumps to step S318. In step S318, thecontrol routine composes a confirmation of the transaction and continuesto step S320. In step S320, the control routine sends the confirmationto the user of the system and continues to step S322. In step S322, thecontrol routine returns control of the system to the control routinethat called the control routine of FIG. 5.

[0043]FIG. 6 shows a flow chart outlining one exemplary embodiment of acontrol routine that processes a publishing request in a “pull” mode inaccordance with the invention. In other words, the control routine ofFIG. 6 processes a publication request and allows distributors to “pull”the content from the system. The control routine starts at step S400 andcontinues to step S402. In step S402, the control routine gathersinformation regarding the available content and associated rightsspecification and continues to step S404. The gathered information mayinclude user information, the content, metadata, a rights template, apublishing profile and the like. The information that is gathered may bedetermined based upon default information, inference rules, lexicalanalysis of the content and any other manner. In step S404, the controlroutine receives a request for content and continues to step S406. Instep S406, the control routine disposes of the requested content andcontinues to step S408. In step S408, the control routine generates andstores the corresponding rights specification and continues to stepS410. In step S410, the control routine registers the transaction andcontinues to step S412. In step S412, the control routine composes aconfirmation of the transaction and continues to step S414. In stepS414, the control routine sends the confirmation to the user of thesystem that makes the publishing request and continues to step S416. Instep S416, the control routine returns control of the system to thecontrol routine that called the control routine of FIG. 6. FIG. 7 showsa block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a distributor system 500in accordance with the invention. The distributor system 500 includes aninterface to the publishing system 502, a server engine 504, a consumerinterface 506, a catalog database 508, a consumer database 510, atransaction database 512, and a business rules database 514. The catalogdatabase 508 may include metadata and usage rights specifications forcontent that have been published for distribution by the distributor. Aconsumer may use the consumer interface 506 to view portions of thecatalog database. The consumer database 510 may include informationregarding each registered consumer such as identification information,password data, preferences regarding content type, usage rights andconditions and the like. The transaction database 512 may include dataregarding transactions between the distributor and publisher and betweenthe distributor and consumers. The transaction database may also includeinformation on each transaction such as the date, the parties, thecontent, the usage rights, conditions and the like. The business rulesdatabase 514 includes rules used by the distributor to conduct itsbusiness. Such rules may include content type preferences, rights andconditions, preferences and the like.

[0044] The business rules determine how a response to a publisher'snotification is generated. For example, a distributor may decide thatthey are interested only in a specific content topic such as security,The distributor may also only grant the right to view and to filter outother rights on content that costs less than $50.00. The distributor mayalso decide to increase the fee for the rights by 10% of the publisher'sprice or $2.00, which ever is smaller. A distributor may also decide torestrict distribution from a particular publisher to users in ageographic area, such as North America. The business rules may alsomodify prices, for example, by setting a rental price of $1.99 per dayfor renting less than 5 days, and $1.49 per day for renting longer than5 days. Business rules may be pre-defined and stored in the businessrules database 514 on the distributor system 500.

[0045]FIG. 8 shows a flow chart outlining one exemplary embodiment of acontrol routine to create or edit a distributor catalog in accordancewith the invention. The control routine starts at step S600 andcontinues to step S602. In step S602, the control routine obtains apublication notice from a publishing system, by either receiving orretrieving from the publishing system depending on the “push” or “pull”mode in which the system publishes the content, and continues to stepS604. In step S604, the control routine selects and/or applies theappropriate business rules to the publication notice and continues tostep S606. In step S606, the control routine determines whether thedistributor is interested in the particular publication using theselected business rules. If, in step S606, the control routinedetermines that the distributor is not interested in the publishedcontent, then the control routine continues to step S608. In step S608,the control routine responds to the publishing system with an indicationthat the distributor is not interested in the content and continues tostep S620. If, however, in step S606, the control routine determinesthat the distributor is interested in the published content, then thecontrol routine continues to step S610. In step S610, the controlroutine responds to the publishing system with an indication that thedistributor is interested in the content and continues to step S612. Instep S612, the control routine receives the content from the publisherand continues to step S614. In step S614, the control routine receivesthe corresponding metadata and rights specification and continues tostep S616. In step S616, the control routine may customize the metadataand right specifications by, for example, adding value to the price ofthe content and continues to step S618. In step S618, the controlroutine generates a catalog item for the distributor catalog andcontinues to step S620. In step S620, the control routine returnscontrol of the distributor system to the control routine that called thecontrol routine of FIG. 8.

[0046] The flow chart of FIG. 8 may be invoked by the publishing systemby a “push” or may be scheduled periodically by the distributor itselfby a “pull.” A distributor system, such as shown in FIG. 7, may also usethe control routine outlined in FIG. 8 to periodically check apublishing system to see if new content is available. The business rulesthat are applied in step S604 may narrow rights and/or change conditionswhich result in customized rights to offer to consumers as describedabove. The control routine of FIG. 8 may also be modified to provide abatch mode to process multiple documents. Steps S612 and S616 are alsooptional. The content may be received later upon distribution.

[0047] Step S616 may modify the metadata as appropriate for thedistributor and the rights specifications. In step S616, the controlroutine may also process the metadata in the rights specification basedupon the business rules. Such customization may include granting only aview right to consumers and to filter out other rights, or to modify thesale price by some mark-up percentage. The exemplary control routineoutlined in FIG. 8 may automatically enter a new item into thedistributor's catalog according to processed and filtered information asreceived from publishers.

[0048] The system and method of the invention may also provide abusiness rules interface (not shown) that enables a user (e.g., adistributor) to edit the business rules. For example, the interface mayprovide the ability to generate business rules that identify content,modify metadata, select rights to offer, and change fees and otherconditions.

[0049] The catalog item that is generated in step S618 may provide anynumber of identification data such as content identification, registraridentification, content metadata, content repositories, usage rights,cover page images, and the like. The interfaces shown in FIGS. 2 and 7,may each include a keyboard for entering alphanumeric input, a cursorcontrol device for manipulating a cursor, a display for displayingvisual output and the like. The keyboard may be a standard QWERTYkeyboard, but may also be a keypad or the like. The cursor controldevice, e.g. a mouse or trackball, will typically have a button orswitch associated with it to which the performance of certain functionscan be programmed.

[0050] The disclosed method and system may also be readily implementedin any combination of software and hardware. For example,object-oriented software development environments that provide portablesource code that can be used on a variety of computer or workstationhardware platforms can be used to implement the invention.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using logic circuits. The systems and methodsdescribed above, however, can be readily implemented in hardware and/orsoftware using any known or later developed systems or structures,devices and/or software, by those skilled in the applicable art withoutundue experimentation from the functional description provided hereintogether with a general knowledge of the computer arts.

[0051] Moreover, the disclosed method and system may be readilyimplemented as software, executed on a programmable general purposecomputer, a special purpose computer, a programmable controller and thelike. In this instance, the methods and systems of the invention can beimplemented as a control routine implemented on a personal computer suchas a Java or CGI script as a resource residing on a server or as aroutine embedded in a dedicated publishing system, a web browser, apublishing system enabled server phone, a PDA, a dedicated publishingsystem, and the like.

[0052] It is to be understood that the systems and methods of theinvention are not limited to publishing digital content. Rather, it isto be understood that the publishing system of the invention may be usedto automate at least some portion of a publishing process for any typeof content and for any type of publisher. For example, the invention maybe used by a conventional content publisher such as a publisher whospecializes in books, e-books, music, art work and the like. Theinvention may also be used by any organization to manage documents suchas, for example, an art museum that needs to control publication of artwork regardless of whether the art work is a painting, music, sculptureor the like. In general, any type of organization may use the inventionfor publishing any type of content.

[0053] An embodiment of the present invention may include GUI interfacesfor distributors as shown, for example, in FIGS. 9-12. FIG. 9 shows anexemplary GUI 900 for a distributor system for updating thedistributor's catalog or “store front.” A user may select a date fromwhich the publishing system server is queried to determine if any newcontent needs to be added to the catalog using a date field 902.

[0054]FIG. 10 shows an exemplary GUI 1000 for a distributor system thatallows a user to review a content notice and to approve or delete thecontent for the catalog. GUI 1000 includes fields 1002 for updating themetadata associated with the content, price and cost fields 1004, anupdate product listing button 1006 and a delete product listing button1008.

[0055]FIG. 11 shows an exemplary embodiment of a GUI 1100 for a cataloglisting 1102 of a specific content. The GUI of FIG. 11 allows a user tointeract with the distributor system to receive access to content. TheGUI 1100 includes a description of the content 1102 and a button 1104that allows the consumer to purchase the content.

[0056]FIG. 12 is an exemplary GUI 1200 for a distributor system thatincludes content list 1202 from the distributor's catalog and provideslinks 1204 with which a user may select content for editing.

[0057] It is, therefore, apparent that there has been provided, inaccordance with the invention, systems and methods for publishingcontent. While this invention has been described in conjunction with theembodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modificationsand variations are apparent to those skilled in the applicable arts.Accordingly, Applicants intend to embrace all such alternatives,modifications and variations that following within the spirit and scopeof this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for publishing content, the methodcomprising: receiving a selection of content from a user; receiving arequest to publish the selected content from the user; and supplyingmetadata and a rights specification to a distributor in response to therequest from the user to publish the content.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the metadata includes data describing and identifying thecontent.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the metadata includes atleast one of a content identifier, a title, an author's name, apublisher's name, a publication date, an image and a description of thecontent.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the content identifier is atleast one of an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), a DigitalObject Identifier (DOI), a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), and aLibrary of Congress Control Number (LCCN).
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the rights specification includes at least one of the rights toprint, view, play, extract, and export.
 6. The method of claim 1,farther comprising generating the metadata.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the step of generating the metadata comprises receivinginformation from the user.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the step ofgenerating the metadata is based upon a user profile.
 9. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the step of generating the metadata is based upondefault metadata.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the step ofgenerating the metadata is based upon at least one inference rule. 11.The method of claim 6, wherein the step of generating the metadata isbased upon an analysis of the selected content.
 12. The method of claim1, further comprising creating the rights specification.
 13. The methodof claim 12, wherein the rights specification is created based upon arights template.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the rights templateincludes at least one usage right and a condition upon which the usageright is contingent.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the rightsspecification is created based upon a user profile.
 16. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the rights specification is created based upon adefault rights specification.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein therights specification is created based upon inference rules.
 18. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the step of creating the rightsspecification is based upon an analysis of the selected content.
 19. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising creating a publishing profile. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the publishing profile includes at leastone publisher identifier and information relating to a pre-existingagreement between at least one of a publisher, a distributor and aregistrar.
 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the publishing profileincludes information regarding at least one of a distributor andfacilitator through which a certain type of content may be at least oneof distributed, archived and registered.
 22. The method of claim 19,wherein the publishing profile is created based upon a user profile. 23.The method of claim 19 wherein the publishing profile is created basedupon a default publishing profile.
 24. The method of claim 19, whereinthe publishing profile is created based upon at least one inferencerule.
 25. The method of claim 19, wherein the publishing profile iscreated based upon an analysis of the selected content.
 26. The methodof claim 1, further comprising confirming the request to publish. 27.The method of claim 1, wherein the user is a publisher.
 28. The methodof claim 27, wherein the step of supplying comprises sending apublication notice to at least one distributor.
 29. The method of claim28, wherein the step of supplying further comprises receiving a responsefrom the at least one distributor.
 30. The method of claim 29, furthercomprising packaging the content for the distributor if the responsefrom the at least one distributor indicates that the distributor wantsto distribute the content.
 31. The method of claim 1, wherein the useris the distributor.
 32. The method of claim 1, wherein the user is acontent creator.
 33. The method of claim 1, further comprising packagingthe content.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of packagingcomprises sending the content to a distributor.
 35. The method of claim33, wherein the step of packaging comprises storing the content to atleast one of a storage and a distribution media.
 36. The method of claim33, wherein the step of packaging comprises encrypting the content. 37.The method of claim 33, wherein the step of packaging comprises sendingthe content to a content repository.
 38. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising registering the content.
 39. The method of claim 38, whereinthe step of registering comprises forwarding at least one of metadata, arecord of published content, a content identifier, the rightsspecification and marketing information to a registrar.
 40. The methodof claim 1, further comprising registering the transaction of supplying.41. The method of claim 40, wherein the step of registering thetransaction comprises storing transaction information in a transactiondatabase.
 42. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of supplyingcomprises: preparing a notice that includes the metadata and rightsspecification; and sending the notice to the distributor.
 43. The methodof claim 1, further comprising using at least one distributor businessrule to determine whether the distributor wants to distribute theselected content and wherein the supplying is based upon thedetermination.
 44. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving aresponse from the distributor and wherein the supplying is based uponthe response.
 45. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating adistributor catalog based upon the metadata and rights specification.46. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying one of themetadata and rights specification based upon a distributor businessrule.
 47. A system for publishing content, the system comprising: acontent database storing at least one content; and a processor incommunication with the content database and responsive to a request topublish the content via a user interface to supply metadata and a rightsspecification regarding the content to at least one distributor.
 48. Thesystem of claim 47, further comprising a metadata database storing themetadata.
 49. The system of claim 47, wherein the metadata includes datadescribing and identifying the content.
 50. The system of claim 49,wherein the metadata includes at least one of a content identifier, atitle, an author's name, a publisher's name, a publication date, animage and a description of the content.
 51. The system of claim 50,wherein the content identifier is at least one of an InternationalStandard Book Number (ISBN), a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), aUniform Resource Identifier (URI), and a Library of Congress ControlNumber (LCCN).
 52. The system of claim 47, wherein the processor isfurther responsive to the request to generate the metadata based upondefault metadata.
 53. The system of claim 47, wherein the processor isfurther responsive to the request to generate the metadata based uponinference rules.
 54. The system of claim 47, wherein the processor isfurther responsive to the request to generate the metadata based upon ananalysis of the content.
 55. The system of claim 47, further comprisinga user database storing at least one user profile.
 56. The system ofclaim 55, wherein the processor is further responsive to the request togenerate the metadata based upon the at least one user profile.
 57. Thesystem of claim 47, wherein the rights specification includes at leastone of the rights to print, view, play, extract and export.
 58. Thesystem of claim 47, wherein the processor is further responsive to therequest to generate the rights specification.
 59. The system of claim58, wherein the processor generates the rights specification based upona default rights specification.
 60. The system of claim 58, wherein theprocessor generates the rights specification based upon a user input.61. The system of claim 58, wherein the processor generates the rightsspecification based upon inference rules.
 62. The system of claim 58,wherein the processor generates the rights specification by analyzingthe content.
 63. The system of claim 58, further comprising a rightstemplate database storing at least one rights template.
 64. The systemof claim 63, wherein the at least one rights template includes at leastone usage right and a condition upon which the usage right iscontingent.
 65. The system of claim 63, wherein the processor generatesthe rights specification based upon the at least one rights template 66.The system of claim 47, further comprising a user database storing atleast one user profile.
 67. The system of claim 66, wherein theprocessor is further responsive to the request to generate the rightsspecification based upon the at least one user profile.
 68. The systemof claim 47, further comprising a publishing profile database storing atleast one publishing profile.
 69. The system of claim 68, wherein thepublishing profile includes at least one publisher identifier andinformation relating to a pre-existing agreement between at least one ofa publisher, a distributor and a registrar.
 70. The system of claim 68,wherein the publishing profile includes information regarding at leastone of a distributor and facilitator through which a certain type ofcontent may be at least one of distributed, archived and registered. 71.The system of claim 68, further comprising a user database storing atleast one user profile, and wherein the processor is responsive to therequest to select the at least one publishing profile based upon the atleast one user profile.
 72. The system of claim 68, wherein theprocessor is further responsive to the request to generate the rightsspecification based upon the at least one publishing profile.
 73. Thesystem of claim 68, wherein the processor is further responsive to therequest to generate the metadata based upon the at least one publishingprofile.
 74. The system of claim 47, further comprising a publishingprofile database and wherein the processor is responsive to the requestto generate a publishing profile based upon a default publishing profileand to store the generated publishing profile in the publishing profiledatabase.
 75. The system of claim 47, further comprising a publishingprofile database and wherein the processor is responsive to the requestto generate a publishing profile based upon at least one inference ruleand to store the generated publishing profile in the publishing profiledatabase.
 76. The system of claim 47, further comprising a publishingprofile database and wherein the processor is responsive to the requestto generate a publishing profile based upon an analysis of the contentand to store the generated publishing profile in the publishing profiledatabase.
 77. The system of claim 47, further comprising a transactiondatabase and wherein the processor is further responsive to the requestto store transaction data in the transaction database.
 78. The system ofclaim 47, wherein the processor is further responsive to user input tocreate the content.
 79. The system of claim 78, wherein the processor isfurther responsive to store the content in the content database.
 80. Thesystem of claim 78, wherein the processor is further responsive to storethe content in a distribution media.
 81. The system of claim 47, furthercomprising a content repository and wherein the processor is furtherresponsive to the request to supply the content to the contentrepository.
 82. The system of claim 47, further comprising a rightsspecification database and wherein the processor supplies the rightsspecification to the rights specification database for storage.
 83. Thesystem of claim 47, wherein the processor is further responsive to therequest to supply a confirmation request and to receive a confirmationbefore supplying the metadata and rights specification.
 84. The systemof claim 47, wherein the processor is further responsive to the requestto supply a publication notice to the distributor.
 85. The system ofclaim 84, wherein the publication notice includes the metadata andrights specification.
 86. The system of claim 47, wherein the processoris further responsive to the request to package the content.
 87. Thesystem of claim 86, wherein the processor supplies the package to thedistributor.
 88. The system of claim 47, wherein the processor isfurther responsive to the request to encrypt the content.
 89. The systemof claim 47, wherein the processor is further responsive to the requestto register the content.
 90. The system of claim 89, wherein theregistration comprises forwarding at least one of metadata, a record ofpublished content, a content identifier, the rights specification andmarketing information to a registrar.
 91. The system of claim 47,further comprising: a distributor system in selective communication withthe publishing system, wherein the distributor system comprises: acatalog database for storing metadata and rights specificationsassociated with at least one content; an interface for selectivecommunication with a publishing system; and a distributor processor incommunication with the interface and the catalog database, wherein theprocessor is responsive to the supplied metadata and rightsspecification to determine whether to store the supplied metadata andrights specification in the catalog database.
 92. The system of claim91, wherein the distributor processor is further responsive to thesupplied metadata and rights specification to modify at least one of themetadata and rights specification based upon a business rule.
 93. Acontent distributor system comprising: a catalog database for storingmetadata and rights specifications associated with at least one content;an interface for selective communication with a publishing system; and aprocessor in communication with the interface and the catalog database,wherein the processor is responsive to a metadata and a rightsspecification from the publishing system to determine whether to storethe supplied metadata and rights specification in the catalog database.94. The system of claim 93, further comprising a business rules databasestoring at least one business rule, wherein the processor determineswhether to store the metadata and rights specification based upon the atleast one business rule.
 95. The system of claim 93, wherein theprocessor is responsive to a positive determination to store themetadata and rights specification in the catalog database.
 96. Thesystem of claim 95, wherein the processor is further responsive to apositive determination to modify the metadata and rights specificationbased upon the at least one business rule.
 97. The system of claim 93,further comprising: a consumer interface in communication with theprocessor; and a consumer database in communication with the processor,wherein the consumer database stores at least one consumer profile. 98.The system of claim 93, further comprising a transaction database incommunication with the processor, wherein the processor is responsive tothe metadata and rights specification from the publishing system tostore at least one transaction record in the transaction database. 99.An information storage media comprising information that publishescontent, the information comprising: information that receives aselection of content from a user; information that receives a request topublish the selected content from the user; and information thatsupplies metadata and a rights specification to a distributor inresponse to the request from the user to publish the content.
 100. Themedia of claim 99, wherein the metadata includes data describing andidentifying the content.
 101. The media of claim 100, wherein themetadata includes at least one of a content identifier, a title, anauthor's name, a publisher's name, a publication date, an image and adescription of the content.
 102. The media of claim 101, wherein thecontent identifier is at least one of an International Standard BookNumber (ISBN), a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), a Uniform ResourceIdentifier (URI) and a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN). 103.The media of claim 99, wherein the rights specification includes atleast one of the rights to print, view, play, extract and export. 104.The media of claim 99, further comprising information that generates themetadata.
 105. The media of claim 104, wherein the information generatesthe metadata based upon information received from a user.
 106. The mediaof claim 104, wherein the information generates the metadata based upona user profile.
 107. The media of claim 104, wherein the informationgenerates the metadata based upon default metadata.
 108. The media ofclaim 104, wherein the information generates the metadata based upon atleast one inference rule.
 109. The media of claim 104, furthercomprising: information that analyzes the selected content, and whereinthe information generates the metadata based upon the results of theanalysis.
 110. The media of claim 99, further comprising informationthat creates the rights specification.
 111. The media of claim 110,wherein the information that creates the rights specification comprisesinformation that creates the rights specification based upon a rightstemplate.
 112. The method of claim 111, wherein the rights templateincludes at least one usage right and a condition upon which the usageright is contingent.
 113. The media of claim ICBM, wherein theinformation that creates the rights specification comprises informationthat creates the rights specification based upon a user profile. 114.The media of claim 110, wherein the information that creates the rightsspecification comprises information that creates the rightsspecification based upon a default rights specification.
 115. The mediaof claim 110, wherein the information that creates the rightsspecification comprises information that creates the rightsspecification based upon inference rules.
 116. The media of claim 99,where comprising: information that analyzes the select ed content; andinformation that creates the rights specification based upon theanalysis.
 117. The media of claim 99, further comprising informationthat creates a publishing profile.
 118. The media of claim 117, whereinthe publishing profile includes at least one publisher identifier andinformation relating to a pre-existing agreement between at least one ofa publisher, a distributor and a registrar.
 119. The media of claim 117,wherein the publishing profile includes information regarding at leastone of a distributor and facilitator through which a certain type ofcontent may be at least one of distributed, archived and registered.120. The media of claim 99, further comprising information that createsa publishing profile.
 121. The media of claim 120, wherein theinformation that creates the publishing profile comprises informationthat creates the publishing profile based upon a user profile.
 122. Themedia of claim 120, wherein the information that creates the publishingprofile comprises information that creates a publishing profile basedupon a default publishing profile.
 123. The media of claim 120, whereinthe information that creates the publishing profile comprisesinformation that creates a publishing profile based upon at least oneinference rule.
 124. The media of claim 99, further comprising:information that analyzes the selected content; and information thatcreates a publishing profile based upon the results of the analysis.125. The media of claim 99, further comprising information that confirmsthe request to publish.
 126. The media of claim 99 wherein theinformation that supplies comprises information that sends a publicationnotice to at least one distributor.
 127. The media of claim 126, furthercomprising information that receives a response to the notice from theat least one distributor.
 128. The media of claim 127, furthercomprising information that packages the content for the distributor ifthe response from the at least one distributor indicates that thedistributor wants to distribute the content.
 129. The media of claim 99,further comprising information that packages the content.
 130. The mediaof claim 129, wherein the information that packages the contentcomprises information that sends the content to a distributor.
 131. Themedia of claim 129, wherein the information that packages the contentcomprises information that stores the content in at least one of astorage and a distribution media.
 132. The media of claim 129, whereinthe information that packages the content comprises information thatencrypts the content to a distributor.
 133. The media of claim 129,wherein the information that packages the content comprises informationthat sends the content to a content repository.
 134. The media of claim99, further comprising information that registers the content.
 135. Themedia of claim 134, wherein the information that registers the contentcomprises information that forwards at least one of metadata, a recordof published content, a content identifier, the rights specification andmarketing information to a registrar.
 136. The media of claim 99,further comprising information that registers the transaction ofsupplying.
 137. The media of claim 134, wherein the information thatregisters the transaction comprises information that stores thetransaction information in a transaction database.
 138. The media ofclaim 99, wherein the information that supplies comprises: informationthat prepares a notice that includes the metadata and rightsspecification; and information that sends the notice to the distributor.139. The media of claim 99, further comprising information that uses atleast one distributor business rule to determine whether the distributorwants to distribute the selected content and wherein the informationthat supplies comprises information that bases the supplying upon thedetermination.
 140. The media of claim 99, further comprisinginformation that receives a response from the distributor and whereinthe information that supplies comprises information that bases thesupply upon the response.
 141. The media of claim 99, further comprisinginformation that updates a distributor catalog based upon the metadataand rights specification.
 142. The media of claim 99, further comprisinginformation that modifies one of the metadata and rights specificationbased upon a distributor business rule.